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Topic: Strong yeasty smell/pasty rind (Read 1525 times)

I have a strong yeasty smell developing on one of my cheeses - it smells like a pub in the morning and the rind has got 'pasty' feeling, but the wheel isn't growing in size...yet It was made on 19 June (so seven days ago) and the rind has not dried. From the beginning, it had a distinct and fairly strong tangy taste that my husband really liked (I didn't).

It was just a basic pressed recipe using raw jersey milk (fresh from the cow) and store bought cultured buttermilk for the starter. I boil all stainless steel equipment and cheesecloth, wash my hands before touching, keep the lid on the vat, wipe down benches with anti-bac spray, havn't made bread for about three weeks - the normal recommendations for cleanliness. The only real difference that I can determine between this one and the three others I have made before/after is that the milk was obtained when the cow was in heat - tastes fine though and had no problems with the milk itself.

I'm guessing yeast contamination from the environment (was drying in my pantry @ approx 12-17C non climate controlled). Is there anything I can do to save it or should I just give it to the chickens now? I have wiped down with paper towels and rubbed some salt into the rind last night - it is a bit less smelly and less pasty this morning. I havn't cut into it to see what is happening on the inside - should I?

How moist is the cheese? If it's a dry cheese, <35% moisture, the yeast development shouldn't matter too much. let it die down and age it out. However, that the yeast grew in the first place suggests that it's more moist than that.

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I'm not sure how to tell the moisture %, the recipe didn't say and I havn't made this before to know what it is supposed to be (having made only 4 hard cheeses to date I have no frame of reference to go by either) - at a guess from its size and density I would think it probably is quite a moist cheese - certainly the rind that seemed to be drying nicely had become pasty/tacky with moisture that I am wiping off with paper towels and white vinegar whihc has decreased the yeasty smell significantly.

I inadvertantly strayed from the recipe after getting interrupted several times during the curd stirring stage, so that stage was lengthened considerably if that makes a difference to moisture content?

I'm happy to cut into this cheese and see whats happening inside if you recommend that? I am purely experimenting at the moment (until my order of cultures arrives) to avoid drowning in the milk my jersey cow is giving, so no great loss if this is chicken feed (but a great leanring experience:)

so that stage was lengthened considerably if that makes a difference to moisture content?

Correct, it makes the cheese more moist.

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I'm happy to cut into this cheese and see whats happening inside if you recommend that?

No need, I can predict based on the make details.

Here's the thing... when you get a moist cheese like this, any surface growth is going to release enzymes that will soften the cheese paste (and flavor it). If you get a fast/runaway yeast formation, it will age it out too quickly. So you need to slow it down. Scrape it, rub with salt or salt/vinegar, scrub, put into cold storage (40ish F), all of those will slow down the progress.

Generally, when you have only a yeast bloom, it is not desireable for a cheese like this. It creates off flavors, and you have to watch it carefully to slow it down.

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